REUTERS/Andres Stapff
Marijuana stocks are surging after Canada becomes the first G7 country to legalize it.
- Marijuana stocks are surging after Canada became the second country in the world to legalize the drug.
- The Canadian Marijuana Index was up 3.34% as of 10:45 a.m.
Marijuana stocks surged Wednesday morning after Canada legalized the drug.
The Canadian Marijuana Index, an aggregate measurement of all publicly-listed marijuana stocks in Canada, was up 3.34% as of 10:45 a.m. on Wednesday. The overall North American index, which includes US stocks, was up 2.28%.
Golden Leaf Holdings, a Canadian Securities Exchange-listed cannabis company, was the biggest gainer with the stock surging 6.81%.
Overall, legalized marijuana is expected to be a boon for Canada's economy. CIBC, one of the country's largest banks, predicts Canada's legal marijuana market will be a $6.5 billion industry by 2020.
A number of Canadian marijuana firms, including Aurora Cannabis and Canopy Growth Corp are seeing a wave of investor excitement around marijuana legalization. Marijuana companies are capitalizing on all that liquidity to go on acquisition sprees.
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